Busy

Before I really start this post, I want to acknowledge 9/11. I know that I will never forget!

We are having thunder and lightning, and thankfully rain. As you know I live in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and we’re in prime fire country. Keep your fingers crossed for us, as this weather is supposed to continue for a few days. Right now, I’m loving it! I love the smell of rain when I can have the windows opened!

I’m sorry that I’ve ignored my blog, but I’ve been so busy with other things… My granddaughters have been for a visit!

My vegetable garden is producing like mad. We’ve finally had tomatoes. The zucchini is overflowing my harvest basket. My knitting is flying off of the needles. The Halloween projects are moving ahead! The Autumn decorating has begun!

It’s just so busy…

We’re Back!

Tritons

Tracey Arm

We have arrived home from the last wilderness. Alaska! It was just as beautiful as promised. The weather was way better than promised, as we had no rain. One day was grey and drizzly, but no rain to speak of.

The Disney Wonder

The ship was even more beautiful than I had anticipated. Our cabin was fabulous, and the service was impeccable! The food was so wonderful, that I’m not sure I can even describe it! Lets just say that I am dieting in a big way, starting tomorrow.

Our son and Grandsons are leaving tomorrow for their new home. They have been away from Mom for about six weeks, and are so excited to be on their way. We are going to miss them BIG TIME! It will be so quiet around here, that I’m not so sure we will know what to do for a few days. The good news is that we can go visit them often, and Disneyland is on the way! I see a lot of trips in our future.

Mickey

I know this post is rambling all over the place, but I’m trying to give everyone a quick catch up… It’s been a busy Summer!

Cabin

My vegetable garden is just starting to produce, and I hope Summer holds out long enough that we get a few tomatoes…and I’m really hoping for pumpkins! We’ll see…

Cadillac Lounge

My little canine pumpkin, Audrey had more Mast Cell Tumors removed yesterday, and the surgery was just as traumatic as last Summer. It was her last surgery. I already feel guilty for putting her through it. Even with her pain meds, she cried all night. I can’t do it to her again.

If you came to catch up on my knitting and sewing adventures, I’ll be in the sewing room with Miss Audrey, so I’m hoping to get a few projects finished.

Stay Tuned!!

Dragonfly Peony Farm

This morning, after english muffins and strawberries. (and by the way the cherry jam from the Farmer’s Market is fabulous)… Anyway. Where was I?

We loaded the cooler with water and left for Wilseyville. It’s up Highway 26, off of Highway 49. It’s about 3,200 ft. elevation and absolutely beautiful. There are oaks and redwoods and firs. Very few pines. You can just tell that they get a ton of rain.

It is the home of Dragonfly Peony Farm. Oh so many to choose from… From snowy white to ruby red, and bright sherbet pink. We even saw a tiny little green frog. We came home with three new shiny peony’s this year and just ordered one more.

Now we need to go plant them…

Happy sunday!

Too Tired To Talk

This is what I have done so far today…

1. I went to the Farmer’s Market, and saw my friends and had a great visit. Oh yeah, and shopped.

2. Shopped at the regular Market and the Pharmacy (not for fabric).

3. Steam cleaned the carpets.

4. Turned over the dirt in the green bean bed.

5. Planted two new plants outside the sewing room.

6. Transplanted some Purple Coneflowers outside sewing room.

7. Weeded front bed under living room window.

8. Planted petunias under living room window.

9. Moved three very heavy potted plants to back deck.

10. Made a Brisket for dinner….love it.

11. Took the dogs for the two and a half mile power walk, which is really number two, but I don’t feel like re-numbering everything…

12. I’m done.

Poppies My Pretty

Another beautiful poppy, my pretty…

June-uary

It is so cold up here and stormy, and rainy, and we may have thunderstorms tonight that they closed our lake for the weekend! It may have happened in the past, but not while we have been living here.

We have had a fun weekend with “our” boys. We really liked the movie Kung Foo Panda. It was very cute, even for us “old” people! We’ve had M&M’s, and cookies, and fish crackers, and Nuggets and fries, and movies on the TV with Papa. We played with the dogs so much that Montana was sitting in Papa’s lap and begging for help. The dogs spent the rest of the weekend in the sewing room.

My garden thinks that it is in Oregon, and so do I. I’m not complaining. You all know that the one thing I totally can Not abide is heat. We don’t have air conditioning, and we live on a very sunny piece of Twain Harte. Oregon weather I can live with.

 

Back to my boys!

OK

Alrighty–I’ve been back for a week, and somehow we have slipped back to Winter, or something. It was thirty-four degrees this lovely Spring morning…Not that you will hear me really complain. The only weather that I can NOT stand, is when it is boiling, unremittingly hot! I’ll even take snow over heat. (As long as I have power).

Our garden is slowly getting back into shape, thanks to my hubby, and youngest son. I worked a bit, but I haven’t been out there for a month. Shhh…don’t tell anyone. I also haven’t really done any sewing in a month either. I did work on the Crayon Box Jacket like a whirling fiend. Then I went to babysit my perfect Grandchildren-just kidding-and while I was there, I managed to knit one square. Big fat halto to the momentum.

This week I have my quilt group here again, and the preparations have begun in earnest! The cleaning is happening, and I made one of my desserts today. Ice Cream! Perfect! By the way, did you know that Nutella will not stick to frozen ice cream? My dessert will not be perfect. I tried to pipe decorativeness onto my ice cream, but alas…  It was thirty four degrees this morning, and we’ve had popping fires all weekend… I hope my friends wear turtlenecks.

Pictures and more fun to come!

Farmers Market

Today is the day!

 I’ve been waiting since October for the opening day of our local Farmer’s Market. My friends and I have been planning and plotting our outfits, but keeping them private from each other. Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise… We like to wear something that we have sewn, or knit that no one has seen before. This year however, it’s COLD! My outfit is jeans and a jacket. A handmade knitted jacket, and a handmade  knitted scarf. Very warm, because it’s freezing.

This is my friend Chrys in her perfectly knit, perfectly embellished, perfectly adorable Color Box Jacket. Mine is half way done, and not this bright. It’s bright , but not as sparkly as this. Stay tuned…

Now, back to the Farmer’s Market… There were bright red gigantic gorgeous strawberries, and flowers in their neon colors. There were baby ruby-red beets, and fragrant spicy garlic scapes…perfect fuzzy apricots for a dessert that I’m dreaming of…

Okay, it must be lunch time…

Oh No!!

I have another blog post planned regarding my sewing habit, but first I just have to rant about this…

We might have snow this weekend! Oh, No, I’m not kidding.My tulips are blooming. They can’t handle being filled with snow and bent to the ground… My poor little trees have new leaves and blooms on them! We’ve lost so many trees this Winter, and I just don’t want to lose any more. When it snows this time of year, the snow sticks to the new leaves and pulls the branches down to the breaking point. Sometimes it pulls the whole tree over. I had planned on not having a vegetable garden this year, because of travel plans. Now I’m very happy that new seedlings won’t be buried under snow. It’s disturbing to have a garden in it’s infancy ruined. Especially after the hours of backbreaking work and months of nursing fragile plants. OK…Now I’m just whining.

We have been doing yard clean-up for the last week. We haven’t even made a dent. Our son is here for the second day in a row to help us. I think he’s going to be here tomorrow as well…

Happy Mother’s Day

We were planning  to spend Mother’s day by ourselves working in the garden. We can only handle the very hard Spring work in small increments. I’ve decided that if we spend one hour a day each, we can accomplish the overwhelming clean up that we have this Spring after our very hard Winter.

After two days in a row of the “clean up”, I’m not so sure that today-day three is going to happen.

I may just be happy with my French-Toast…

I love my boys, and I wish that they were here! I hope that you each have a great day with those you love!